Gaia's Will
by E. Strong
Summary: After JENOVA'S temporary defeat, The Planet began working on the humans, trying to salvage what little of it's chosen people were left. Gaia nudged together those with the most Knowledge of the Cetra. Genevieve, the child of two parents who both had Ancient blood, was born solely for one purpose. One mission. Salvation for one and all, but at what expense to herself?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

October 2002

Location: Sector Three General Hospital, Midgar

The woman began the process of putting on her clothing as rapidly as she could, her bare feet chilled by the cold, tiled floor of the hospital room.

Beside the abandoned bed, in a little square, wooden bassinet stirred a newborn baby. A boy with luxurious platinum hair, cherubic cheeks and fierce green eyes. Though the child possessed his mothers ruddy, tanned skin and his face was a combination of both his progenitors, there was no denying whose child it was that lay on its back, sensing his mothers agitation.

The woman herself looked tired, but was moving relatively quickly for someone who'd just had a child cut from her womb. She was careful when she bent, holding her stomach gingerly. Every movement she had to preform involved muscles in her lower torso that brought a new sensation of pain rippling up her body, shuddering her spine. She ignored the pain and dutifully continued her task.

She had to get out of Midgar now. She didn't know where she could go or how she would get there but she had to get away.

They would find her and her baby. They would take her and her baby.

Hojo knew the truth now, he knew what she was and where she came from. He also knew she had no where to go now that…

The television finished its advertisement and returned to the broadcasted program, which was the Midgar City News. A female newscaster with shoulder length blond hair and a male with gray hair and glasses were on the screen, sitting behind a tall desk.

"And in the news tonight," The blond haired woman began. "President Shinra and his fellow chairmen gathered outside the Shinra Headquarters this morning to announce the death of General Sephiroth Lightblade."

The television screen showed a press conference that had been held earlier in the day at the steele monstrosity known as the Shinra Building. There was President Shinra and Heidegger, both of their fat asses feigning sorrow and remorse, standing behind a podium just outside the glass entrance to the tallest building in Midgar.

"General Lightblade had been a dedicated member of SOLDIER for years and played a crucial role in the winning of the Conflict in Wutai that ended the Wutai War." The woman continued.

Here the screen flashed recorded video of the woman in the hospitals husband in combat with Wutai Militants. Another recording showed him standing tall and straight, silver hair whipping back from his head, using a lightning attack with his materia against an entire field of enemies. President Shinra and Heidegger were shown on the screen again.

"We here at Shinra Incorporated are sad to announcing the passing of a great SOLDIER, General Sephiroth Lightblade." President Shinra spoke into the microphone set up on the podium in front of a crowd of spectators and reporters. "General Lightblade was killed in action during a mission that went horribly wrong."

There was a rush from the crowd as many people began shouting out questions. President Shinra answered none, but continued to speak into the microphone.

"There will be a city wide memorial service on Friday, complete with a burial at a newly constructed tomb in which he will be laid to rest."

The female newscaster's face occupied the screen once again.

"Alright, very sad news there from President Shinra, you know, a lot of people didn't know the General was married." The newscaster continued.

"Really?" Her male counterpart voiced. "I didn't know that."

"Yes, really. I've had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Lightblade a time or two, but that was so long ago. My heart goes out to her tonight, wherever she may be." The female newscaster smiled into the camera sympathetically. "In other news, no word yet on the reopening of The Gold Saucer."

"That's right, Erica." The male newscaster turned his face to the camera as it changed. " Chocobo Breeders and Racing fans alike gathered outside the Sector 5 stables-"

The woman finally found the switch to the television and turned it off, plunging the room into silence. The baby in the wooden crib stirred again, his tiny hand peeking out of its swaddled blanket. It stretched and curled, searching for the finger that should have been there for it to grasp.

Now she knew why she had gone into labor. She knew why the child came early. He needed to be out of her body and breathing before its fathers consciousness hit the Lifestream. The child needed its father to know he had been born, needed to cry out with new life as his fathers life perished.

The woman pulled her thoughts together, she had dwelled in the room long enough. She had been in the hospital for one and a half nights, the first full night being the night she arrived and had to have an emergency cesarean section. That was the night her husband died, the night she lost the connection the Planet had established between them nearly ten years ago.

She had witnessed so much since she moved to Midgar from the small island she called home. The past was so far away and the future didn't look too bright.

She ignored the pain as she gingerly stooped to her knees and tied her sturdy boots tightly. She didn't want to be relacing them anytime soon. She was very grateful that she'd worn the long, loosely flowing black dress Sephiroth had given her to wear home from the hospital. She remembered the look in his eyes as she modeled it for him.

Those eyes, wintery evergreen and ethereal, were eyes that she would now never see again.

The woman walked around to the other side of the bed and peered at the small child that lay on the flat bassinet. She picked him up gingerly and cradled him in her arms.

The baby's little mean face peered back at her, platinum brows scrunched together in momentary uncomfortableness. He opened his tiny, cupid mouth and yawned, letting out a little coo as he settled into his mothers arms.

The woman held the slight little bundle close to her bosom, taking in his baby scent. She traveled over with the child to the window and looked out onto the city below.

The woman on the television had tried to warn her. Shinra was looking for her. That's why she said that little bit on the television.

Well, she would heed that warning. She would heed it well.

The woman left the window and placed the child back in the bassinet abruptly. For his part, the child did not protest but was startled as his green, everwinter eyes opened wider for a moment. The woman went to the closet and retrieved her black leather waist coat. Before she put it on, she fiddled with the sleeves and pulled out her weapon, pulling it from its sheath. The Kazuyama was a katana her mother had forged before her death. Traveling up the blade and down the hilt were three materia slots each, all six filled with materia Sephiroth personally mastered and placed there.

Nibelheim was to have been his last mission.

By the Goddess, they'd waited so long to become parents. Ten years. Ten years of waiting, of promising and then nine months ago, when he discovered he had one more commission for SOLDIER, he decided he wanted to get an early start on expanding their family, this way when he came back from Nibelheim he'd announce his retirement from SOLDIER and then begin a new chapter in his life.

"It didn't work out that way, did it, Seph?" The woman whispered to herself as she regarded the materia on her sword silently. She staunched the tears that threatened to flow and resheathed her sword. She placed the leather coat around her frame, slipping her arms into its sleeves and returned to the closet. She pulled out a suitcase she had packed hastily the night she'd gone into labor.

She opened the case and stuffed diapers, wipes and anything she could take from the hospital room into the the piece of luggage. She went inside the small bathroom and grabbed soap and feminine necessities from the shelves bringing them out and placing them in the suitcase. Once everything was inside the case, she zipped it closed.

She instinctively knew that the boy would have to be nursed, which meant he would start to fuss in a few moments. If she was going to make her move without being detected by the nurses she was going to have to make it soon.

Her eyes fell on the small, black diaper bag the hospital gave to its new mothers as a courtesy gift. She grabbed it and emptied it of its contents of bullshit magazines and poisonous powdered baby formula. She searched the bassinet, that was more like cart, really and found a few more hospital issued receiving blankets. She placed these inside the bag and then when a sufficient layer of support had been achieved, the woman slid her hands under the baby and placed him gingerly inside the diaper bag. The bag didn't zip, but had a long strap that she could wear across her chest. Once the bag was properly positioned she saw she was able to peer at her baby's little handsome face. He peered back at her curiously, but quiet. She was starting to feel a connection between she and her son. He could not speak, but he apparently understood the need for silence at this time.

Genevieve picked up the suitcase from the bed and glanced at the digital display facing the wall opposite her. It read 12:17 a.m. The woman was fairly certain the nurses had already changed shift. Fortunately for her, they'd put her in a room that was nearest the main hallway that lead out to the elevators. She merely had to exit her room and open the heavy, automatic doors to the main hall and get on the elevator. She chose this hospital for its more, simpler floor design, after all.

One would expect the pregnant wife of Sephiroth to go to a posh, upscale hospital such as the one located in Sector One, but Genevieve Hawthorne Lightblade was good at staying out of the spotlight. After spending ten years with the poster-boy of SOLDIER, she learned she had to stay hidden and reclusive. Especially these last few years.

After Genesis went AWOL and the whole business with AVALANCHE, Sephiroth had been on edge. Always cool and professional to those who crossed his path, until he'd met her.

That day on the island when he'd come as a sort of break from the constant fighting in Wutai. He'd been taking over for Genesis who was not yet SOLDIER 1st Class.

This. is why you were born, why I coaxed your bloodline into existence. The voice of the Planet had said to her all those years ago. She had been born for Sephiroth, had chosen him over what Genevieve believed could have been true love, waited nine years to bare his child, only to have him ripped away. General Lightblade had been a cold, calculating bastard, but unlike the rest of the world, whom he conveyed no emotion to, Genevieve knew all sides of him. His dream to fight for the fun of it, not because it was necessary. The betrayal he felt when one of his closest friends turned out to be a deserter, the sadness he felt when he lost Angeal and the conflict he felt at having to hunt both of them down and kill them, he confessed all those emotions to her.

She had been the journal Sephiroth could not keep.

The baby stirred from the diaper bag. He was getting restless.

It was now or never, Genevieve decided and as softly as she could, opened the heavy hospital door of her room.

She stuck an eye to the crack she'd made and peered out into the hallway. She heard the sounds of heart monitors and a few crying infants from other mothers rooms, but there was no sound of anyone walking in her direction.

Adrenaline filling her system, Genevieve opened the door wider and slipped out of the room. She took a quick glance down the hall towards the nurses station. She caught a glimpse of one of the nurses heads as she peered over a patients chart at the desk. She could hear the nurses co-worker talking about something or other, but the pair were not paying attention to her.

"-So sad to hear about it." Genevieve could just barely make out their low voiced conversation.

"I know!" The nurse who'd been overlooking the patient file said, turning to her counterpart. "He was so young, too. Only twenty-seven according to his fanclub page."

"I heard his wife was pregnant, very near to term from what I understand."

"Wouldn't it be something if General Lightblade's kid was born here?"

Genevieve didn't stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. She walked the few paces from her room to the door and pushed against one of the metal bars, releasing the lock and exiting the maternity ward.

She found herself in the main hall of that floor, the 5th floor, she noted as she glanced at a diagram of the hospital that had been placed at the maternity ward entrance. She studied it for a moment, mapping the path of her exit in her head. She was located right below the emergency room entrance.

She didn't see why she couldn't walk out of the ER exit as people were always coming and going in that section of the hospital.

Genevieve walked down the hall, eyes studying the outside as the main hall was lined with thick, clear paned glass. She could see the central structure of the Shinra Building in the distance and vowed to stay away from it.

She came upon the elevators and pressed the down button. She glanced at her son who'd fallen silent in the bag. His little eyes were closed in sleep, thankfully.

Kids already a genius, Genevieve thought to her herself as the elevator doors finally opened. The interior was empty, to her relief and she stepped inside and pressed the button for the first floor.

The Emergency Room was a busier than the Maternity Ward. Still, Genevieve kept her head down and maneuvered her way through the occasional crowd of doctors or orderlies she encountered.

Finally, the exit was near, right in front of her. She hurriedly crossed the Emergency Room lobby and made her way to it.

"Hey-hey!" Someone exclaimed right before she stepped outside. "I know you, you're General Lightblade's wife!"

Heads turned towards Genevieve's direction, but she took no heed as she continued through on towards the double doors. They slid opened automatically and finally she was greeted by the warm night air of Midgar City.

"Well, there you are." A voice stopped her cold. "You're such a difficult person to find."

Genevieve turned to the voice she recognized, but didn't want believe was standing in the spot she too occupied.

"You're supposed to be dead." Genevieve said to the man in the red leather coat. Her eyes refusing to meet his.

"Your husband is dead, not me." The man said. He'd been leaning against the building, obviously waiting for her to make an appearance.

"You don't look too well, are you still deteriorating, Genesis?" Genevieve asked throwing the insult at him. "I know all about the degradation the Jenova cells are causing you."

"The same cells your husband refused to give to me to save my life." Genesis retorted. He walked towards Genevieve slowly. "Why was he such a bastard?" He asked. "Oh, I know, because he thought he was too good for his own good. I told him the world needed a new hero."

"And who might that be? You?" Genevieve forced a contrite laugh, even though it caused her extreme discomfort in her abdomen. "Keep dreaming, Genesis. The last I checked, heroes didn't kill innocent people."

Genesis stopped his slow advance upon her. His face contorted in a painful grimace and suddenly a huge black wing burst forth from the right side of his back.

"What the hell-" Genevieve started, backing away from Genesis in horror. What had he become?

What had they all become?

"You will come with me." Genesis said softly, voice barely audible. The comment had not been a request. It had been a command.

"I am not coming-"

Genevieve didn't get to finish her statement as Genesis rushed forward so quickly she didn't have time to react. He overpowered her easily as he caught her arm behind her back, holding it there.

"Now, now." Genesis said, covering her mouth with his red gloved hand. In that hand was a chloroform laced cloth that he pressed gently against her nose and lips. "Shhh-don't fight me, Genevieve. Despite what you two did to me, I still will never harm you."

Weak from the recent surgery and unable to resist the physically stronger Genesis Rhapsodos, Genevieve felt herself slipping from consciousness.

She closed her eyes and felt herself falling deep into the memories of her past. She fell back to the little island where the nightmare first began.


	2. Chapter 1 (Really)

**Authors Note: Hi, thank you for reading, I hope you find the tale entertaining and worth while. Anyhow, I do not own Final Fantasy 7, that belongs to the company known as Squaresoft that was, but otherwise known as SquarEnix. I do own the original characters as well as the tale I've crafted around the events from the major plot.**

Location: Mideel

Three Years Into the Wutai War

Genevieve Hawthorne was the eldest daughter of a widower who remarried. They lived in the small town of Mideel.

Mideel was miles away from anything interesting and Genevieve wanted desperately to find a way off the island town.

Genevieve worked part time as a waitress at one of the local taverns. She had a younger sister named Josephine who attended school during the day. Josephine was their fathers daughter with the wife he remarried from Mideel.

Logan Hawthorne was originally from the regions of the Northern Continent, a small town called, ironically, Icicle, and Genevieve had fond memories of growing up building snowmen, drinking a hot, tasty liquid and listening to her father tell stories of their Ancient heritage.

For Genevieve and her father were not like other humans.

At least, that's what the stories said but Genevieve soon grew out of the mystical notions the stories told.

Still, Genevieve thought to herself one day as she bussed one of the tables in the tavern, it would be nice to visit home.

She took the bin, full of plates and silverware, back through the swinging doors into the kitchen. She placed them, as unobtrusively as she could, onto the counter next to the dishwasher.

"That should be the last of them, Biggs." She said to the dishwasher as she removed her apron and threw it into the cloth hamper to be washed. "I'm off."

"Hey, what're you so chipper for?" Biggs, a stocky kid of about her own age of eighteen asked, peering at her from his place by the low sink. "You gotta date or something?"

Genevieve felt her face redden. She tried not to smile.

"As a matter of fact, I do." She divulged.

"What?" Biggs said, genuinely surprised. "With who?"

"N-No one, it's not important." She smiled nervously and waved a goodbye to him as she quickly walked back through the swinging doors.

She made her way through the dining room, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror set behind the bar before she walked out of the establishment.

Genevieve took no notice of the night as she started to walk the path she'd walked a hundred times towards her home. She trunched along, passing the gate that stood at the front of the town and through the town square.

Mideel was an establishment that thrived mostly on the production of sugarcane. Sugarcane could be refined into pure sugar which was then shipped off to places around the world such as Midgar and Medeoheim and then used in delicious cakes, pastries and whatever else mankind had a sweet tooth for.

Genevieve's father worked in the sugar refinery along with a good portion of townsfolk. The other available workers took to the fields along with the few migrants that managed to make their way that far south.

She paused for a moment before she passed the gate completely and peered out into the darkness beyond the light that illuminated the entrance to the city. The thick darkness of the jungle was impenetrable but she knew there were dangerous monstrosities that lurked in the night, waiting for an opportunity to attack something weaker than it. Something to destroy.

Monsters. The Horrors.

Hard to believe the twisted creations of the Planet now plaguing mankind were once so like the humans that inhabited the earth now.

Genevieve continued on, following the road south, past the small shops that lined the street and past the town clinic.

After the clinic, she passed over an ornately decorated bridge that spanned across a small, freshwater stream and into the residential area of the town. Here houses were built in neat, orderly spaces. There were a few vacant homes, but most held a resident or two within its walls.

Further on, past the residential area lay the path to the the fields and another, well sought after commodity of the town. Mideel sat right on top of a hot spring that kept the town occupied with tourists from time to time.

Genevieve came upon her home and quickly trotted up the stairs, her chunky brown work boots thudded up the wooden porch, announcing her presence to anyone inside.

She opened the door and stepped inside the comfy front room. No one, to her surprise, was sitting on any of the furniture that adored the living or dining room.

"Dad?" Genevieve called, glancing at the clock on the wall next to the door she'd just stepped through. Her father's voice did not answer her so Genevieve hurriedly moved up the staircase and onto the second floor of their home.

She crossed the dark hall, opened the door to her room and entered. She clicked on the small lamp next to her bed, flooding the room with bright, soft light.

Genevieve dropped her canvas bag onto the neatly made bed. She pulled off her work shoes and placed them inside the darkened, wooden armoire that stood on the wall opposite her bed. Opening the door further revealed a mirror her father had affixed a few years back. She pulled out a shirt from the rack and held it up to her tall, sturdy frame. Not liking the choice, Genevieve replaced the shirt and pulled a lighter, lower cut blouse out and held it to her torso, smoothing the material to her with her free hand.

"What are you doing?"

Genevieve jumped slightly and turned to see her sister, Josephine, standing in the doorway of her room. Her back was leaned casually against the frame, one leg crossed in front of the other. Josephine turned her gaze to her sister, smiling impishly.

"Hey Jo, I didn't think anyone was home." Genevieve said, smiling at her sibling. "I'm gonna meet up with some friends at the Springs Resort."

"Really? You?" Josephine threw her blond head back a gave a few over dramatic hacks of laughter. "Father's 'precious little perfect' is going to the Resort?" Josephine walked inside the room and threw herself across Genevieve's bed. "Do tell, sis." She smiled again.

Genevieve and Josephine were sisters but neither looked or acted alike in any manner. Genevieve was tall, ruddy tanned skinned and possessed ridiculously thick, luxuriously dark long hair.

Josephine was a head shorter than her sister and three years her junior. Josephine looked like her petite, blond headed mother, with her big, light brown eyes, small but generous mouth, tiny waist and equally ridiculously thick, yellow imbued hair.

"What do you mean?" Genevieve turned back to her reflection in the mirror. She replaced the blouse and pulled out her favorite dress.

"Oh, the dress." Josephine crooned. "Who's the guy?"

"It's no one special, Jo, really just some friends that are back in town."

"Sure," Josephine rolled her eyes. "And I'm starring in the next production of 'Loveless' at The Gold Saucer."

"It's nothing, Jo and where do you get off with calling me 'father's little perfect'? I am seventeen and legally of age to go to the Resort, Josephine. I'm not doing anything wrong." Genevieve reminded her sibling. "Besides, Father encourages me to get out more."

"That's because he's hoping you meet some handsome, local bloke who will make you want to stay here in Mideel." Josephine remarked sourly. "Heaven forbid his 'Little Ancient' ever leave him."

"What is with you, Jo?" Genevieve asked as she stripped off her work uniform. "Did you have a bad day in class?"

"No, you just won't tell me who it is you're meeting and I'm curious, so I'm being annoying." Josephine admitted. She flipped over onto her back, placing both hands behind her head. "Is it Dahmon Drake?" Josephine asked. "I had heard he was in town."

"Jo, drop it please, it doesn't even matter." Genevieve strode to her vanity stand and picked up her favorite fragrance. She sprayed it a few times and then retrieved the dress she'd chosen from the armoire. She pulled the pink material over her head. It followed the length of her body, stretching well down her long legs. A slit was cut on either side, stopping a few inches above her knees and allowing a bit more flexibility when walking. The dress was sleeveless with a long pink cord that tied ornately around her torso and tied together at the waist.

"It is Dahmon. I knew it." Josephine sat up. Her eyes narrowed. "He's hot, why did he ask you out?"

Genevieve ignored her sister as she pulled free the ribbon that kept her hair affixed tightly in a bun. The strands cascaded down her back like a river of lacquer. She ran a brush through the length of it and tied it back into a high ponytail. Genevieve finished her look with her dress shoes, a sturdy, but elegant short boot with only a small heel.

She turned to Josephine who was looking at her with a bored expression.

"You should really go shopping." Josephine said. She finally stepped off of Genevieve's bed. "Bye, have fun." The younger sister said to the older one as she stepped out of the door. "Miss Perfect." Josephine said as she lightly closed her sisters door. She leaned against it and suppressed a silent giggle she continued down the hall to her own bedroom.


	3. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Hi, thank you for reading, I hope you find the tale entertaining and worth while. Anyhow, I do not own Final Fantasy 7, that belongs to the company known as Squaresoft that was, but otherwise known as SquarEnix. I do own the original characters as well as the tale I've crafted around the events from the major plot.**

As she walked up the resort steps, the doorman opened the gold gilded door and bowed to her slightly as she went inside.

Genevieve could admit it did feel strange walking inside the resort for the first time, even though she'd lived in Mideel for over ten years.

She didn't know where to go as she walked slowly inside the lobby, taking in the sight of three floors of private rooms built around a natural hot spring that was located in the middle of the structure. Genevieve was impressed with the resorts opulence. She didn't know such intricacies existed in the little town.

"Welcome to Mideel Hot Spring Resort and Spa. Do you need some help? You look lost." The receptionist asked her from her place behind the marbled counter.

"I'm supposed to be meeting a friend here." Genevieve said nervously.

"Oh, you'll probably want the bar and grill, it's on the other side of the hot springs-"

The receptionist pointed towards the huge stony structure of the spring that had various pools of steaming water cascading into one another. "Follow the path around the right of the spring and it's right there, you can't miss it."

"Thank you."

Genevieve followed the path the the woman indicated and soon found herself in the Resorts Bar and Grill.

"Genie!" Dahmon called to her, he rose and waved at her from one of the booths that surrounded the darker interior. Genevieve smiled at her old friend and made her way down the aisle and towards the table he'd chosen for them.

When she was close enough, Dahmon swept Genevieve into a tight, friendly hug. Genevieve patted him on the back a few times, taken aback at his sudden physical contact. She didn't remember she and Dahmon ever really being that close as they grew up, so she was surprised when he'd stopped into the tavern and made sure to ask her to see him tonight.

He let go of her and they slid into the booth, facing each other.

"So?" Genevieve asked, clasping her hands together and setting them on the table.

"So, what?" Dahmon asked her, a wry grin twitching at the corner of his lips. He was a handsome guy, with his movie star smile, always tanned skin, dark tousled hair and tall, lean frame. He was the son of the Mayor of Mideel and his family owned the largest sugarcane plantation on the island. He was a couple of years older than Genevieve and having finished his education and, being the son of an affluent land owner, was sent away to Midgar, to receive the best education his father's Gil could buy. And that was , of course, Shinra University.

"Well, you've been away in Midgar the past two years." Genevieve continued, her eyes wide, waiting for his response. "How was it?"

"Oh, that." He angled himself back against the booth, stretching his long arm across the top of it. "It was...interesting, to say the least."

"You're still at Shinra U there, right?" She asked. The waitress came up then to get their drink order. Genevieve ordered a drink that was made out of sugarcane juice with a shot of rum. Dahmon had a carafe of some golden beverage.

Their conversation resumed once the waitress walked away.

"I stayed ae university until I found an internship at Shinra Electric as an engineer. I'd been under my instructor for 3 months when they offered me a position full time. Of course I took it, that's a thousand gil a week paycheck."

"Wow...so you're working for Shinra?" Genevieve asked.

"I was, but once my father found out I'd quit the university he stopped sending me a stipend allowance and then I found out Midgar was a whole lot more expensive without a second income."

"I took out some loans and got in some debt." Dahmon ended the story abruptly. "So now, I'm back here."

"Oh." Genevieve said awkwardly, letting the silence settle between them. "So, what are you going to do now that you're home."

The waitress returned with their drinks. The pair declined to order food. The waitress smiled and told them she'd be back to check on them and walked away.

"I guess I'm going to take over my old mans plantation." He

reached for the carafe, took a long draught from it and then replaced it back on the table. "I hadn't planned on taking over the business, but-" he didn't finish his statement.

"Enough about me, what about you, Genie?" He finished his beverage. "How's Mideel been treating your family since I left?"

"Well," Genevieve began, taking a sip of her drink and letting the sweet liquid roll around in her mouth before gulping it down. Immediately she felt a warmth spread out from her belly. "My step mother was placed in the clinic after she had that accident with the Lifestream. She's still there, comatose. Josephine didn't take it well at all." Genevieve drained the rest of the beverage from her glass and placed it back on the table. "She's in her last year of school and skips more days than she attends. She seems to have a perpetual chip on her shoulder."

"Has she visited her mother at all?" Dahmon asked, catching the waitresses attention and throwing up two fingers indicating they wanted to order two more of the same drinks.

"No, not to my knowledge." Genevieve said as they both waited for their drinks. "I visit at least once a week. I can hear her, as crazy as it sounds, but I can hear her speaking to me."

"She's in a coma..." Dahmon reminded her, in case he heard her wrong. "How could she be speaking to you?"

Genevieve struggled to find the right words. She figured she shouldn't have said anything about "speaking" with her step mother at all as the whole process itself was difficult to explain. People hardly remembered who or what the Ancients were, let alone their abilities.

"In the figurative sense, I mean." She recovered as the waitress returned once more with two more drinks. "She doesn't actually talk to me."

Dahmon bought the excuse as he didn't ask her to elaborate any further.

"How has your father been?" Dahmon asked.

"Dad has been handling the situation as best he can. He works long hours at the refinery to make up for the absence of pay. But I think he really works so much to distract himself. It's easier for him not to think about it rather than face the issue head on."

Dahmon leaned forward on the table, staring earnestly into Genevieve's golden colored eyes.

"You know, you are really pretty." Dahmon said softly. "I don't think I've ever noticed for some reason."

Genevieve was taken aback by his sudden observation.

"Uhm, thank you." She replied for lack of anything else to say. "You're not so bad yourself, but you already knew that." She added, smiling up at him.

"What do you mean, 'you already know that'? I didn't know you thought I was 'not so bad'." Dahmon chuckled. "I always thought you didn't notice. You were always so aloof, never flocking to me like the others."

"Ha, the others, you talking about your fan club?" Genevieve teased, poking him in his arm playfully.

"I didn't have a fan club, Genevieve." Dahmon said seriously, he appeared to be embarrassed. "Sure, I had admirers, but I didn't string anyone along."

"Hey, I was just joking." Genevieve said softly.

"I know." Dahmon said.

Their conversation died down as they topped off their drinks, each regarding the other.

Genevieve was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol course through her veins and decided she'd had enough to drink.

"So," Genevieve broke the silence. "Why did you ask me here?"

Dahmon smiled.

"Maybe I just wanted your company for the evening." He said.

Genevieve narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly.

"Alright, alright, seriously." Dahmon's features took on a more serious facade. "I need your help."

And there it was.

Genevieve brought her right hand to her mouth and gently bit the sides of her thumbnail. It was a nervous action, one she'd acquired when her mother died.

She turned her head to inspect the patrons at the bar, avoiding Dahmon's eyes.

"Oh, with what?" She asked as casually as she could muster. Genevieve felt foolish. Of course he hadn't asked her for a DATE date. Why would he, as she thought before, they were never really that close.

"I have a deal worked out with Shinra. They're looking for new places for potential Mako reactors. When I told them the Lifestream sometimes pools up to the surface around here, they got really excited."

"Mako Reactors?" Genevieve scrunched her nose up at the thought.

Mako was the energy that Shinra Electric mined via facilities they built dubbed Reactors. The reactors pulled the Mako up from the earth and then converted it into energy used to power the towns, cities and various weapons that existed in the world. "I don't particularly like the thought of that here in Mideel." She continued.

"I know, I know." Dahmon raised his hands in a manner that suggested calm. "I had that same thought, but, it would be such an economy boost to the town. Finally, Mideel could be known for something other than...than sugar!"

"So, where's the part where I help you?" Genevieve continued, not sharing Dahmon's zeal for the plan.

"I just need to get a sample of the Lifestream and send it off to them. Shinra has never been able to get near it, they know where to find it. But, you do."

"What makes you so sure I know where to find it? You're the one who was born and bred here." Genevieve pointed out. She was liking the idea less and less.

"Yeah, but you're the one who found your step mother." Dahmon folded his arms.

"I was just taking a walk on the beach." Genevieve intoned. "I didn't go looking for her. I just literally saw her floating in this...this green stuff." She said matter of factly.

"You know." Dahmon leaned forward slightly. "It's amazing no one thought you had anything to do with the accident."

Genevieve's eyebrows furrowed together at the accusation.

"Excuse me?" She asked, even though she'd heard his words perfectly. "Are you implying that I had something to do with her fall?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just saying, no one really knows what she was doing up there." Dahmon said.

"Yes they do." Genevieve scoffed as she too folded her arms. "My dad found her camera a week later. He developed the film and saw she'd been taking pictures of those damned birds she collected." She stared at Dahmon hard. "It's pretty apparent she'd been tracking one and somehow she fell off the cliff. Maybe she saw the Lifestream and leaned in too close."

"Alright, Genevieve, I didn't mean to strike a nerve." Dahmon interrupted.

"Sure seems like you meant to." She said. She grabbed her purse, found a few Gil and placed the them on the table. She slid out from the booths seat.

"I'm gonna take off, it's late and I'm getting tired." She said to Dahmon, once again not meeting his gaze.

"Hey, Genevieve, I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it." Dahmon said to her.

"It's alright, Dahmon. I guess I'm just sensitive, but you didn't have to do that whole bit about me being pretty and all that-"

"But-"

"No, it's cool." Genevieve said, cutting Dahmon off. "Glad you're back home, see you around." At that she turned on her heels and left Dahmon at the table.


End file.
